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Major U.S. business groups, citing internal frictions and uncertainty over the details of President Barack Obama’s 12-nation Pacific trade deal, are withholding their support for now, hobbling the administration’s early efforts to win congressional backing. With big pharmaceutical companies and several other major industries disappointed by the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the broader business coalitions that have long backed the talks say they first must consult with their members. (Mauldin, 10/8)

A big sticking point in the negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership involved biologics medicines and vaccines created from living organisms. The dispute centered on patent protection: how many years drug companies should have before facing competition from generics. The negotiators ended up with a complicated compromise that gives drug makers five to eight years of protection. But nobody is really happy with the outcome. (Zarroli, 10/8)